Helpings of hospitality

Posted: Saturday, October 01, 2005

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY has its basis in the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. We Southerners like to think of ourselves as cordial and considerate, because that's the way we'd like to be treated.

A good strong dose of Southern hospitality could smooth ruffled feathers in separate neighborhood uproars in the Historic District and on suburban Wilmington Island.

In the first case, Tony Phillips wants to turn the bottom floor of his three-story home on the 300 block of Abercorn Street into a coffee and pastry shop. The building is zoned for an inn, which means he just had to get permission from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

But he ran into opposition from Esther Shaver, who owns E. Shaver Booksellers nearby, and from Larry Lee, president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association.

They were concerned that if Mr. Phillips got approval to open his shop, others would want to do the same thing.

Their concern is understandable, considering the need to maintain a healthy mix of homes and businesses. However, there doesn't seem to be much concrete evidence to back up their contention.

A case in point is Firefly Café. Earlier this year the city agreed to let this corner restaurant on Troup Square serve wine by the glass, despite dire predictions from some neighbors. Those predictions have not come true. The neighborhood continues to be a nice, quiet place to live, and has an attractive eatery residents and visitors can patronize.

The City Council enacted strict rules to prevent the Firefly situation from becoming a slippery slope. If the shop Mr. Phillips wants to open starts to become a noise or traffic nuisance, the city has regulations to deal with that.

None of that will be necessary, though, if Mr. Phillips is considerate of his neighbors There's no reason to think otherwise.

Ms. Deen, owner of The Lady and Sons restaurant downtown, is a star of the Food Network with her "Paula's Home Cooking" television show. She has been taping the show in Milbrook, N.Y., but wants to add authenticity by doing the show at her home on Wilmington Island.

She's taped a few special segments at the new house she and her husband have built there. Her neighbors, though, aren't enthusiastic. One resident counted as many as 27 cars parked on the street during a taping this summer.

Ms. Deen wants to tape 80 programs at her home in the next year, splitting the tapings into four, two-week periods. Some neighbors question whether her home is zoned for a business. Gregori Anderson, the county's building safety and regulatory director, says it's a gray area since she doesn't provide goods or services to the public.

But Tom Todaro, Savannah's zoning administrator, sees the situation in black and white. Ms. Deen has a home occupation which is the production of her cooking show, he said, and it generates more traffic than normal for the neighborhood.

Ms. Deen has a fine solution. If the film crews need to have more than two or three cars - about what a dinner party at someone's home might attract - she will have them park outside the area and bus them in.

"I can promise you, I will not interfere with anybody else's life," she said last week.

That's the neighborly attitude.

Ms. Shaver and Mr. Lee are genuinely concerned about the intrusion of too many businesses into the residential area of the Historic District, just as Wilmington Island residents are concerned about disruptions in their neighborhood. At the same time, Mr. Phillips and Ms. Deen appear to be willing to do what's necessary to avoid inconveniencing their neighbors.

With a little consideration and cooperation, what we call Southern hospitality, all sides can be winners in these situations.